boiling. geraldo rivera. >> gretchen: i thought you were talking about our all american concert series 'cause we'll be dancing and singing with andy grammar. have a fantastic thursday. bye-bye. bill: thank you guys, good morning, a fox news alert and big day on the hill, airig holder will face a congressional committee in 30 minutes, lawmakers will hit him hard on fast & furious. only yesterday we reported on leaked wire taps that suggested the justice department knew more about the botched gun walking operations. in a knew moments we'll talk to a congressman who will ask some of those questions. stay tuned for that live here. also, brand new jobs number out, 377,000 americans claiming first time jobless benefits last week, which is better than expected, but the number from two weeks ago, once again, revised higher. something that has happened almost every week for more than a year. good morning everybody, welcome here. got a packed two hours.

i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom" and martha is working dater. >> jamie: don't think she's not working folks! i'm jamie colby. it worked out bill, nice to see you, good morning everyone. all this as we saw this spike on wall street. huge yesterday. talks of bailouts abroad and brand new stimulus dollars back home, that could be hitting taxpayers. federal chairman ben bernanke is set to hit capitol hill, and will definitely be asked about that. bill: let's ask stuart varney about all that, anchor of varney & company. two topics, what is the deal io on jobs? >> one more time, it is the revised numbers which are more important. two weeks ago, the number of new jobless claims, 383,000. they revised that, 38 # thousand. that is the actual number. and that's perilously close to the 400,000 number which is real bad news for the economy. i believe bill that 65 of the last 66 weekly reports have been revised upward.

this new number, 389, that's the real number to watch here, that signifies a weak economy. bill often times that revised number gets buried in the headlines because we lose sight of it as the weeks go by. what is ben bernanke going to do about this. >> the question is will pw*pb bail barack obama. we'll find out. in 58 minutes, 10:00 eastern time this morning, we will find out what ben bernanke is going to do, if anything, to stimulate the economy. president obama is going to have a hard time getting any stimulus plan through congress, but ben bernanke can print money to stimulate the economy. will he? we don't know. but we'll find out at 10:00 eastern. bill: let's put a fine point on that with regard to another stimulus because everybody is writing about it in the past week. it will not pass the house, right, so the only way to get a federal stimulus is to go through the fed. >> yes. bill: what are the options there? lower interest rates? printing more money? or both? >> well, the bottom line is we're going to find out will

ben bernanke print more money. what he does with that money, we don't know. will he keep interest rates down. they're already at historic lows, will he just buy more government bonds, pump money into the banking system? don't know. the question is, though, does he print more money, yes or no. we will find out in 57 minutes from now. it's a big deal for the stock market, believe me. bill: it is, and it's a big deal for your retirement fund. what's happening to america's retirement money through all? >> okay, yesterday big rally in the stock market. that means that if you've got stocks in your 401k, you did okay yesterday but overall the stock market is down roughly 1000 points in the last six or seven weeks, which means your 401(k) has taken a hit. if ben prints more money, the theory is that will somehow or other find its way into the stock market and your 401(k) will do a little better. bill: so if you go into another phase of printing money, what's that do to the

strength of the dollar? >> it brings the dollar down and that's what will happen, and in the long run, the theory is that it gives you inflation. so there's risks in the long term, but the short term gain may be registered on your 401(k), but again, we don't know what he's going to do, 56 minutes we'll find out. bill: a lot of people frankly would argue that inflation is already creeping in many areas so far. stuart, thank you for that, we'll catch you at 9:15. jamie: thanks stuart. with good reason we are keeping a close eye on wall street for you today. the futures are heading higher this morning after a big spike yesterday, the dow climbing 286 points on talks of bailout in europe. its best day of the year. will it repeatito itself though? >> china has cut a key interest rate in an effort to revive its own economy and that has investors in a buying mood. we'll keep an eye on the marks and let you know what happens after the opening bell. breaking news first though on reports that we're

getting of another massacre in syria. u.n. observers have been turned away from a tiny syrian town where activists say nearly 80 people have been killed, and more than half of them women and children. many said to be killed at close range. conor powell is joining us from our middle east bureau. conor, what's the latest overnight? >> reporter: well, jamie, antiassad acti vies say that more than 80 people were killed in the syrian town of kabir, just outhad hama, that could raise to more than 100 according to activists. fox news stresses we cannot confirm these claims. the sunday has vent observers and -- advisers and observers to go find out what has happened in this town of kabir, however, they've been reportedly turned away according to u.n. officials, prevented by syrian troops and also civilians in the area. now, syrian state television is actually reporting that

the u.n. observers have gotten into that area and now are at the massacre site but we can't confirm that either. we're still waiting on official numbers and word of what officially happened from the u.n. observers on the ground, though. but what activists say happened is that a syrian militia and syrian troops attacked the town of kabir in the past 24 hours, at least 80 people they say were killed and that number could rise to roughly 100 or so. of course, the assad regime is saying this is not their responsibility, they say it was the acts of armed terrorists. jamie: of course. whether that's true or not, who knows. sounds like they are involved to a certain extent, at least some government forces, and the question is, i guess we have to ask, who in the international community will step up to help them, even if it's just with aid with the for example being affected? one of the countries that wants to help and will talk to the about it is iran. how concerned are people there about getting what

they need from those who truly want to give it? >> reporter: the u.n. has been issued visas and aide workers have been issued visas to get more aid into syria, particularly the hard hit areas. the u.n. is working on a new plan to try to create a contact group that includes iran. previously iran has not been part of the discussion but kofi annan, the u.n. envoy, is meeting in the u.n., he's trying to push this plan that involves us, france, britain, turkey but also iran, kwraurb and china. there's hope this would sort of create some type of political momentum for a peaceful solution, but that seems very unlikely, according to the shines we've seen on the ground. >> syria and iran. we'll keep an eye on it. thank you. bill: meanwhile, same part of the world, secretary of defense leon panette making an unannounced trip to afghanistan, secretary panetta sending a stern message to neighboring pakistan, warning it to do more to root out terrorists there. >> we are reaching the limits of our patience here,

and for that reason, it is extremely important that pakistan take action to prevent this kind of safe haven from taking place. bill: terror groups in pakistan claiming responsibility for recent attacks on americans, including last year's strike on the u.s. embassy and nato headquarters in kabul. jamie: we are also awaiting a big announcement on al-qaeda-linked terrorists in africa. the state department expected to offer up to 23 -- rather, $33 million in rewards for information on top al-shabaab militant necessary somalia. it's the first time a bounty has been offered to track down members of that group. bill. bill: all right. we have a jam-packed hour coming up. some of the stories just getting parted -- started right now. violent storms sweeping through colorado, a mix of hail and rain causing flooding, several feet deep, stranding drivers in scenes like these. water pouring into homes out there.

jamie: very dangerous conditions. and also, former florida governor jeb bush, vice president? president? well, the former florida governor is speaking again about the chances that he will run for higher office now or down the road. bill bill that questions comes up, doesn't it. outrage in washington, a top republican saying $70 billion of your money is sitting idle and being wasted as the debt continues to rack up, and paul ryan with a warning shot that the u.s. could turn into europe if we do not do something and do it fast. >> we're half way through a lost decade because of this president's polices. if we stay in the path he's on not only will we have a lost decade but lost generation and we'll have that debt crisis which is entirely avoidable. you do more and focus on the things that matter to you.

jamie: it's truly an icon of american space flight, docking at a floating museum in new york's hudson harbor for all to see, the shares shuttle enterprise, lifted on to the deck of the

intrepid. finally it's here, the sea, air and space museum, with new space! crowds cleared -- cheered as it was lowered into place and finishes its journey that included the piggy back ride on a boeing 747. despite never flying in space enterprise hold as special place in history as the first of nasa's shuttles. bill: welcome here. >> of course this is a coverup. you don't lie to congress and lie to lie about congress and know about lie to go congress and not fire the people who did all of that and have it be anything but a coverup. bill: that from darrell issa on our program and we're just minutes from seeing attorney general holder, that's what he was talking about, the house judiciary committee, getting ready for a grilling. we await iowa republican congressman steve king will be in that hearing and he's with me now. what are your questions today? >> well, the first question,

first it will be chairman issa will be asking questions before i do. i imagine he's going to ask who knew about this, at what level, you're under oath mr. attorney general, and who covered it up and what's been your involvement and why don't you comply with the subpoenas for the information we requested, why is it a partial compliance, not a complete compliance. at that point it will flow into the discussion about the potential for holding eric holder in contempt of congress. that has to unfold almost org begannicly. i don't know exactly what my role is going to be in that but the questions he asks ahead of me will determine where i go after. bill: i understand that. what eric hold ser going to say in part with regard to fast & furious was it was both flawed in both concept and execution. what do you think about that? >> i think that's something that's been obvious for a long time. and so that would be burning all few minutes of discussion time, and it wouldn't be in response to a question i wouldn't think. i would say back to him, attorney general holder, you've been asked over and

over again who knew at the highest level who approved of it, and who has been -- who has been engaged in the coverup and surely there has to be things behind it that would cause i think it to be a minimum great embarrassment to this administration, if not outright law breaking that's taken place and that's what's really behind it. the president has himself said the only reason anybody wouldn't answer a question with regard to fast & furious is because they have something to cover up. the attorney general is not answering our questions, not complying with subpoenas, not coming forward with information. there must be something he's covering up, we need to get the answers for brian terry, america and it's congressional oversight responsibility that comes today before the house judiciary committee. >> it will be the eighth time he's answered questions from the committee on the hill. do you expect something new here? >> i think that darrell issa has some material that might be new. i'll be listening very closely. i had a short conversation with him last night. bill bill is it perhaps the

wire tap information that he discussed on our program yesterday? >> well, it could well be. i didn't take him down into that. i thought that whatever the chairman issa has is proprietary to him and when he brings that or if he makes that available to me later this morning i'll certainly dig into that but i do think there's going to be some new information, i think he will cue it up very well. we always run out of time, especially when they're running out the clock from the administration, so those of us on down the line will need to pick up the ball but i think that darrell issa will make mention of that. bill: with regard to this, what he told us yesterday was that -- what issa says about the wire taps is holder's signature is not on it, but apparently people who report tom on a daily basis were involved. that was his claim yesterday. the other issue that you're hot on is voter i.d. laws. what do you think the department of justice is doing in various states to crack down on that, or to prevent states from cracking down on that? >> well, of course, the florida situation is one that just screams at us.

the florida secretary of state's office is in there, purging the voter registration rolls and identified hundreds of illegals that have voted in florida and the department of justice sent a letter that said you must cease purging these people from your voter registration rolls, they cite some language in the voting right the act that goes back into the '60s, and i think it's an invalid analysis of it, i think they've taken a position that's not a legal position on this, and they are suppressing the cleanup of the voter registration rolls which enails voting of illegals in florida. if that's the case it affects probably every other state. so this is about i think eric holder, barack obama, eric holder, identifying that they see people that are illegaller, here as undocumented democrats, they'd like to document them and they have to document them by the voter registration rolls. bill: we have more on that and we will await eric holder, we'll see what happens in this hearing, we'll be watching for your questions and others.

fast & furious, both flawed in concept and execution, could be a head from the a.g. today. thank you for your time. >> thank you bill. jamie: bill, as you were just mentioning it, it should be a no brainer as congressman king just mentioned as well, the high stakes tug-of-war between a key swing state and the feds is voter fraud. it could have huge implications for the race for the white house. should you be able to vote if you're dead or not a citizen? plus this: >> if you're sweeping the floor in a solar panel production facility, is that a green job? >> the answer -- bill: the answers to that question and a host of other jobs leaving the white house with a lot of splainin to do. that in a matter of moments. jaime what is green, bill? graduation, huh ?

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bill: 22 minutes past the hour now, heavy winds tearing off roof necessary texas, debris rip ag part power lines, and residents hardly knew what hit them. stkpwhraoeu thought that the apartment was going to collapse. i wanted to run away. bill: i bet. the extreme weather forcing about a dozen families out of their homes. >> a scare in the skies, an f-16 fighter jet intercepting a small plane near an air space near a fund-raiser for president obama, the pilot set to be interviewed about what he was doing. >> plus a big night the the television music awards, carrie underwood winning an award and putting on quite a show. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ got that on your ipod? jamie: would you -- does she

ever not put on a great show? she is great. bill: good for her. name of the song is --? good girl. because she's a -- good girl! jamie: we told you a little about this story, it's florida, that's that key swing state, pushing back now against the justice department because they ordered florida to stop prurpblging voters that are ineligible to vote, the state's republican governor rick scott saying that purge is not only lawful but it's the feds, no the sunshine state, that's wrong here. our steve harrigan is live on that from miami on a standoff, steve, which could have huge implications it seems to november. >> reporter: jamie it really does look like a showdown is coming from the governor here in florida and department of justice. right now you have each side accusing of the other of breaking the law and a real battle over who has the right to vote in florida. >> i went to jail for us to

have this right to vote. and then to have somebody come along as a scotty come lately and decide that i'm going to allow that these people are going to be suppressed in their voter rights is a shame. >> reporter: the controversy stems from efforts by florida's republican governor rick scott to clean or purge, depending upon which side you're on, the voting rolls. backers of the effort say it's simple, noncitizens were people who are dead should not be eligible to vote. >> i don't see any logical reason you can give to not removing deceased voters from the roll. >> reporter: florida has flagged 2700 potential noncitizens on voter rolls, and asked county election supervisors to have them prove their citizenship. the department of justice has ordered florida to stop the search. opponents saeuts it disproportionately targets hispanic immigrants. in miami just two noncitizens have been found to have voted. we found one of them.

>> if you don't have a driver's license, and you're not a citizen, how could someone vote with your name? >> i don't know, sir. >> reporter: right now, most county election supervisors have stopped trying to find noncitizens on their voting rolls. they are getting ready for a possible lawsuit from the department of justice. jamie. jane jaime serious business down there steve, thanks. bill: 25 minutes past the hour. is another bush going to make a run for the white house? what jeb bush is saying, just this morning. could he join also possibly mitt romney, the governor, on that ticket? you will find out, straight from him, live. jamie: big win! oklahoma city winning four straight to beat the san antonio spurs. they go to the nba finals. you can hear the thunder. they're going to take on the winner of the series. bill: that will be a war,

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decision, although i think there's a window of opportunity, and in life, for all sorts of reason and this was probably my time. although i don't know, given kind of what i believe and how i believe it, i'm not sure i would have been successful as a candidate, either. these are different times than just six years ago when i last ran. >> bill: that is some candor. bush went on to deny rumors of possible vp run saying that, quote, under no circumstances would he accept a vp spot on the republican ticket this year. jamie: you have a green job? what defines a green job. there's actually a definition from the labor department. but the white house right now is facing new scrutiny about that. an administration official admitting under tough questioning, a bus driver, someone who sweeps the floor, even if you work in a bike shop, those all qualify as green workers. >> i asked you a question, you know the answer, would

you please answer it? if you sweep the floor in a solar panel facility, is that a green job? >> yes. >> thank you. if you drive a hybrid bus, public transportation, is that a green job? >> according to our definition, yes. >> thank you. how about employees at a bicycle shop? >> i'm not sure about that. >> the answer is yes according to your definition and you've got a lot of them jamie: well, why is it an issue? what's the definition of what green job is? we're going to tell you with monica crowley, radio talk show host and christopher han, former aide to senator chuck schumer, both fox news contributors. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. jamie: monica, it's important because the administration is claiming they've created so many jean jobs, in the millions, and -- many green jobs, in the millions and these are included, what is the definition and if you're a lobbyist on environmental or

resource causes you have a green job. >> you know what jamie i had purified water this morning with my breakfast so i think that qualifies me as holding a green job! look, when the original nearly trillion dollars stimulus was passed, they made up this formulation about jobs created or saved. and over the course of the following two years, that formulation was proved to be so bogus that the white house and the administration had to dispense with it totally. they're trying to do the same thing here. they're trying to qualify these ridiculous sounding jobs as green jobs. why? to deflect the public's attention away from the fact that, number one, the entire stimulus has been an enormous failure, it stimulated nothing but government, and number two, to deflect attention away from the fact that these green energy companies like solyndra and so many others that have gone bankrupt and cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars, which has outraged the public -- >> jamie: excuse me, christopher, i'm all for the environment, heck, i drove a

hybrid. and there's nothing wrong with the administration saying that they're creating green jobs. >> right. jamie: but if the guy who pumps the gas into a school bus has a green job, don't you think the definition is a bit broad? >> well, it's a hybrid school bus, jamie, and you are wearing green shirt, so you kind of have a green job today so i'm pretty excited about that! i have always said there are statistics and you can make them say whatever you want them to say. if the right says there are fewer green jobs they will include less people in that number, if the left wants to say there are a lot of green jobs we're going to include as many as we can in that number. jamie: why now, why is the left bragging about this statistic now? are they planning another stimulus? because taxpayers want to know. >> we'd better be planning another stimulus and i think this should be more about infrastructure jobs, creating mass transit and bridges and tunnels and airports in this country, but that said, the green jobs are the goal of the future and these are jobs that we should be focusing

on and creating. everyone believed that at one point, including darrell issa who pushed for green jobs money in his own district back in his day and mitt romney put money into his own so*ld india, kanarka >> >> the first stimulus was suppose to go for infrastructure and guess how much of the nearly trillion dollars went to it? >> it was 15 percent. jamie: are you talking about the shovel ready jobs? is that what you're saying, chris? >> we need another shovel ready job stimulus? >> there's not such thing as shovel ready jobs. >> the -- >> inaudible. >> we -- we should be putting money into projects -- money into bridges like that all over the country, we have crumbling infrastructure. jamie: there's no -- >> that is the -- it's a fair question, monica, chris, how are we going to pay for it. >> money has never been cheaper, interest rates have never been lower. we need to stimulate the economy, get people back to work and deal with the

decifit when the employment crisis is over. >> you know, what -- >> that's what's always been done. jamie: monica, i -- >> bush did it. >> i agree that we should be stimulating the economy but you don't do it through government and you don't do it through government spending, you do it through the private sector and the way you it -- you get that done is lowering taxes across the board and tkraoeg lating. >> the tax rate has never been lower. jamie: allow me my curiosity. chris, did you bring up solyndra as an example of good green jobs initiative? >> i said that all have pushed for green jobs on the left and right. romney did it, issa did it in his own district, so people want the jobs in their distributes and point to failures when they happen. look, everything is not going to succeed. this is a new industry. we should be making to make -- working to make it better. >> green energy is such a rousing thing for this economy and so great for america then they should be able to compete in the

market place without government subsidies. >> oil doesn't, and we should let green have the sail advantages, we should level the playing field. jamie: thanks guys, great points. thank you very much. bill: fox news alert, attorney general eric holder, house committee, tough questions on operation fast & furious, yesterday we reported on the leaked wire taps that suggest the justice department or at least members of that department did know more about the botched gun walking operation than it let on in congress. we expect more on that. we're monitoring that hearing for headlines. you can watch the entire matter live on our website, stream o'clock at foxnews.com. you can click on the link at the top of our home page. so while we're on the air, you can go there. just stay with us and we'll bring you headlines throughout the morning here. now a followup on a story we talked about yesterday here in "america's newsroom", a mother in colorado, now defending herself after a photo service of her toddler sitting in a back seat of her car while a gas can is in the kid's seat!

buckled up. the image was snapped by an officer during a click it or ticket campaign. the woman driving says that her son unbuckled also and that she is not a bad mother. listen to her: >> he doesn't know how to push this but he could push the red button, and shimmy out, so i see him slip over the car seat itself and put on the big boy seat belt. my son was buckled -- i'm sorry, for any -- i love my kids. i can't believe this has exploded the way it has. bill: as for that gas can, a passenger that was in the car claimed he put it in the car seat. jamie: i'm sorry, but what was it doing in the car to begin with, bill? bill: gas can? >> jane jaime the baby touching it and they put their fingers in their mouth. bill: you never know what's coming out of that gas can, jamie. it could spill over. jamie: i wonder if the mother smokes. that's a crazy story. there are new questions today about tens of billions

of dollars. they haven't been doing very much. they're actually sitting idle while our nation's debt continues to soar. take a look. what is washington doing with all that money? bill: also there is severe weather in parts of the country, hail and rain, lead to go flooding. have you seen these picture? do not drive through this stuff! janice dean is in the fox weather center and j.d. is up in moments. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8. ...more talk on social security...

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how long is this one going to last? forty-five minutes? an hour? well... listen. 5-hour energy lasts a whole lot of hours. take one in the afternoon, and you'll feel alert and energized 'til the cows come home. it's packed with b-vitamins and nutrients to make it last. so what's it going to be, partner? 5-hour energy. wise choice. 5-hour energy. hours and hours of energy. jamie: it is a massive reminder of the japanese tsunami washing up now on the west coast. the japanese confirming a dock on shore in oregon was torn loose by last year's tsunami. wildlife experts also found a native japanese starfish clinging to that wood. people on the coast, worried about what may come next. >> it's kind of scary seeing it come up here because we all served -- we had ship wrecks up and down the coast for more than 100 years.

this rivals that. >> i just think it's kind of weird that it could come over from japan. i mean, from the sunday ami that happened quite a bit ago. >> if this crossed the pacific ocean and it's that big, that means anything of our worst nightmares could cross the pacific ocean so we're kind of frightened of what's to come. jamie: that young man has something to talk about at school the next day for sure. a spokesman for oregon pargs and recreation said they did test for radiation, of course that's a concern but it turned up negative. bill: we're going to be doing stories like this for at least a year. nearly 16 trillion now in debt america. senator tom coburn releasing a report highlighting more than $70 billion in unspent federal money. this is the house budget committee chairman paul ryan warns that president obama's economic polices will push the u.s. off a fiscal cliff. this from hannity: >> what we're saying and what i believe and what all the experts that come to

testify to the budget committee are saying is we've got about two years before we have a debt crisis like europe is experiencing. what's going to happen, like europe, politicians have made the empty promises which turned into broken promises, the bond market has turned on you and you have a debt crisis, cranking up taxes, cutting benefits for current seniors, slowing down your economy, having a lost decade. we're half way through a lost decade because of this president's polices. if we stay in the path he's on not only will we have a real lost decade but a lost generation and i fear we'll have that debt crisis which is entirely avoidableful bill: that is a father of four speaking. art laffer was former advisor to president ronald reagan. how you doing? >> doing fine, bill, how are you? >> bill: doing fine. i want to get to this coburn deal, $70 billion, you can make the argument hey, you can spend money, create jobs or help out homeowners or put the money in the kitty and try and pay some of this down. i want to point out a couple

of fact force that coburn is talking about. there's an emergency homeowners loan program with a billion dollars budget, they have all the foreclosures, all the middle class americans, struggling to keep their head above water. that did not disburse more than a billion dollars in aid. you had one in three highway dollars earmarked for projects since 1991, had not been spent at of 2011. and if you're going to make the case that these are the shovel ready jobs, you know, coburn is finding the money and finding the programs. what's going on here? >> i had no idea, what it shows. tom coburn is one of the most professional politicians i've ever seen, just done an amazing job covering this. what it shows is they vote for this, don't follow through with it and it's not being used for the purposes in which it was intended and they don't even know what is happening, what's going on. bill: are you here to argue we should spend that money

or not spend that money? >> congress has already allocated it to be spent. it should have been spent. it should have been carried through, according to the legislation. and it wasn't. not only wasn't it, they didn't even know it wasn't. whether they're supposed to spend this money now or not, i don't know. there are a lot of programs i probably would agree w. some i would disagree with, but the point is they have no clue. it shows the total incompetence of the government process when it comes to safeguarding your dollar. bill: with regard to the highway dollars, it accounts for $13 billion to be spent. >> i would have loved that. bill: he calls these disappear marks. detroit, michigan failed to spend $100 million in federal aid that would have given education assistance. you think about major american cities today, who needs it more than the cities? >> that's right. detroit needs something. i think they need tax cuts on the state level by the way. detroit and cleveland and pennsylvania. i mean, these are areas that have been hallowed -- hollowed out by very bad

state and local policy and they need help by doing the right thing to make businesses attract tpheuf their state. they don't need handouts from washington in general. bill we've reached out to senator coburn in regard to this. with regard to paul ryan, he has we have 24 months and then we're europe. >> i don't know if we're two four-months or not but paul ryan is completely right. this is the worst set of polices i've seen. you've got this tax megaddon coming on 2013. all that the cbo is trying to do they can't do. how can this economy continue to operate? if there's a 1 percent increase in interest rates on the national debt, just a 1 percent rise, that is the equivalent of $1.5 trillion being spent. it's just huge. bill: he talks about a lost generation. when you think about college-educated kids in america, fewer than half are

getting a job, a full-time job in their field, within a year, -- >> by the way the number i just gave you was wrong. it's $150 billion. but yeah, it's crazy what's going on. i mean, the devastation that's going to our poor, our minorities, the youth in america, and you know, after being unemployed and not having opportunities for a number of years, they become unemployable. and then they really do become the lost generation and will never be able to bring them back into the mainstream. it's tragic what is going on for the last six years. bill: the point ryan was taking with sean hannity was europe's politicians made empty promises that have turned into broken promises. >> that's clearly true. bill: are you of the mind that the tax cut issue or the spending cuts that are now on the table between now and the next six or seven months, is washington going to work that out? and if so, does it come before or after the election? >> yeah, i think it has to come after the election. i mean, you have a clear

ideological divide between democrats and republicans today. that ideological issue has to be resolved. thank goodness they resolved it in san diego and san jose on pensions but these empty promises that have been made by over the last six years just have to be brought to an end, and if they're not, there's no amount of tax reform that's going to solve the problem. bill: all right. >> you've got to bring down government spending and a lower rate, broader based tax system to create jobs, output employment -- and grow employment growth. you can't balance the budget on the backs of the unemployed and poor. you can't do it. you've got to create growth. that means lower, flatter taxes. bill: we are going to speak with the mayor of san diego in 30 minutes. that measure passed overwhelmingly. >> oh, great, good guy. bill: art, thank you for coming in and congratulations on your new book, called "eureka, to you to save california". we'll talk about that next time you come back. art laffer, thank you very much. to our viewers, whether it's

coburn or ryan, the bya question, fire away on our website, fox news.com/"america's newsroom", also e-mail me, hemmer, foxnews.com or twitter me, bill hemmer, because you asked, bya there are 16 trillion things to talk about! fire away in one line. jamie: great. that was very interesting. a mystery is baffling investigators. they can't figure it out. they've been trying to solve this for three years. what happened in the minutes before an air france jet went down into the atlantic, killing everyone aboard? now there are new reports of a fateful move by that plane's captain that may have doomed the flight. bill also we're watching this, eric holder speaking on the hill, back in the hot seat over fast & furious. the questions house republicans are saying that america's top law enforcer is not answering at the moment. >> ♪

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bill: a fateful decision by the flight captain may have doomed an air france flight over the atlantic, a published report now saying the captain of flight 447 took more than a minute to respond to frantic emergency phone calls from the cockpit and the veteran pilot was traveling with an off duty flight attendant. preliminary reports indicate a copilot's error is to blame for that crash that killed 228 passengers and crew members on board. french authorities expected to issue a final report on the crash in just about a month. jamie: and they are getting a little more than just rain. look at this video from colorado. the drivers will actually got trapped in their cars by several feet of hail, mud and gravel. the floods were set off by a severe thunderstorm they had dump ago massive amount of rain and meteorologist janice dean is keeping an eye on that for the good folks of that part of the country in of the fox news

extreme weather center. >> reporter: that video tells the story. if you live around the denver or california springs -- colorado springs area and you tell me you slept through the storms last night i do not believe you! let's look at the swreudos we're getting. incredible. i read 8 inches of hail. this is more than 8 inches! i mean, this is just wild! we had dozens of reports of hail, as well as damaging winds and seven reports of tornadoes. you could see those poor cars. they're not going anywhere! there's one of the reports of tornadoes in and around the denver metro area, colorado springs. so several reports of funnel clouds. nothing that has been confirmed just yet. and there's more hail. i mean, really, unbelievable damage. -- unbelievable, damage reports of trees uprooted to damaged roofs, cars and all those motorists stranded. unbelievable. there's the storm system over the last 24 hours. just came out of nowhere.

this is the threat again today. the same areas need to be on alert for the potential of large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, so reports out of northern douglas, well el better county and more storms possible today. so many reports of hail, several reports of winds and seven reports of tornadoes. we'll keep you posted if and when they are confirmed. there's the severe weather threat again today across the northern plains, there's the denver area where we could see the potential again today. unfortunately. taking a quick look at your satellite over the next 24 hours, we're watching the storms across the rockies, as well as heavy rains over portions of texas and oklahoma. here in the northeast a little unsettled. it's been kind of like this all week long and that's going to continue. we'll keep you up to date from the fox news extreme weather center but video like that, incredible. jamie: i've never seen floods like that. janice, thank you for keeping everyone safe today. bill. bill: we are rolling on to a part of the country that's taken a hit, it was boon town for middle class

americans but that was then. in moments we'll take to you the suburbs of a critical battleground state to get a sense of where the voters are today as our listening to the voter series continues. jamie: nothing like hearing from the voters themselves bill. a stunning turn of events in two of america's largest cities overwhelmed by pension obligations, the mayor of one of those cities will be here to talk to bill, live. every communications provider is different but centurylink is committed

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bill: it is 10:00 in our nation's capitol. fox news alert, attorney general eric holder back in the hot seat this morning set to face questions on operation fast and furious and even more than that a day after a bombshell in that matter. leaked wiretaps suggest that justice department officials lied to congress about the failed gun running sting. members. house prying to get to the bottom of that. we'll see how the process goes. a whole new hour, welcome, i'm bill hemmer. martha is working for megyn. jamie: it's great to spend the

morning with all of you. the chairs of the committee have made their open statements and the questions are about to beginning. bill: you're right, jaime. we'll get right now to mike emanuel on the hill. what has the attorney general said already about fast and furious there, mike, good morning. >> reporter: he is just starting now. we know that the attorney general will talk about the efforts to try to stop the i wilthe illegal flow of weapons across our southwestern border. he'll say inappropriate stat particulars were used. he says it's a laudable goal to stop the flow of weapons but there were flaws in terms of execution and approach. the question will be whether that will satisfy some of the republicans on this commit me that want more documentation from the department of justice. supporters of the department of justice says they've given tons of documentation to the people on the hill. let's take a listen to the top democrat on the committee. >> i want to thank you for your

patience and diligence. to date the department of justice has provided over 7,600 pages of documents to the congress. you made additional law enforcement, sensitive materials available to us in dozens of briefings. you've permitted us to question senior department officials in hearing and transcribed interviews. >> reporter: so, john conyers, an ally of attorney general eric holder is making the case that he has been very helpful, provided a lot of information, still we've heard from leading republican -ts os on the committee that they are not entirely satisfied. bill: the people losing patients with the at, what are they

saying. >> reporter: they say he can use all the flowery language he wants when he testifies on the hill. they want to see more documentation. they want to know who signed off on some of the tactics that the attorney general is admitting today were inappropriate in terms of allowing the weapons to go across the border and ultimately killing an american algt. w agent. we heard from one key republican on the committee. >> he has been thwarting any attempt by congress to get this investigation going ot a quick pace. if he doesn't actually cooperate with us at this hearing or in the next new days i think contempt of coverage is the way to go in the oversight committee. >> reporter: there you go, a key republican says he's lost patience with the attorney general. it will be interesting to see if him and also darrell issa have a different opinion after they get to question the attorney general today. bill: you're just getting started there. we'll wait for more headlines. jamie: we are monitoring a lot of it. take a listen to this. committee chairman lamar smith

in his opening statements. >> regrettably the obama administration has shown a disregard for the constitution and rule of law in an effort to impose their agenda on the american people, and there are many examples. efforts to block congressional inquires about the administrations actions undermine the balance of power on which our nation is founded. the department of justice still hats not provided enough information about operation fast and furious so that the american public and congress can judge who in the department bears responsibility for the decisions that led to agent brian terry's death. jamie: questions of that, questions of leaked intelligence. this is the day that the committee wants answers. let's talk about it with mary katherine ham a columnist with the daily caller and a fox news contributor, and tom dupri, a former attorney general. it's grit to have both o great

to have you. lamar smith says they are arrogant, undemocratic and it needs to stop, what do you think the attorney general can and will say, what does he need to say in order to defend that claim? >> look, i think he's got a lot to answer for. when you're looking at fast and furious alone a federal agent side on your watch when you were trying to allegedly stem the flow of illegal firearms by allowing the flow of illegal firearms which ended up in the cartel's hands and got one of our guys. that is a lot to answer forment that is just one of the things holder has been involved w. which is why i think he becomes a little bit of a political liability for the obama administration. i know they are close friends an doesn't want to throw him under the bus. he's one of the best known cabinet officials that showed hillary the most well-known and most popular, holder the least popular, is name will be heard about in ads by outside groups

probably during this election to the obama administration's dismay. jamie: tom, your background is with the ag. there are laws in place to protect against thin things like this. this is not one allegation, it's compounded by a number of different activities that the justice department is accused of doing or not doing. how strong a case is there against eric holder? >> i think the attorney general's problem is begins the day with a bit of a credibility deficit before this committee. he took a position early on that high level officials in washington, including his deputies knew nothing about the fast and furious until it was publicly revealed. what we've seen now is a drip, drip, drip of documents including new wiretap applications where the attorney general says we knew nothing but then he finds himself in a very defensive reactive posture where he's got to explain away what is in the documents. i think he would be well advised just to get the full truth, put it out there on the table and say this is what happened. we accept responsibility and

here's why it happened. jamie: it's so complicated now, and it's complicated mary catherine by the wiretaps, which i'm sure they will do everything in their power to exclude but we know basically what they say. do you think someone on the inside is leaking these and what impact will it have on the white house? >> it does sound like there is anonymous leaker here which is not good for holder and the administration. the press really like stories about an anonymous leaker. i think this is a huge liability for them. the wiretap applications, it's not the initial goof up that gets you in trouble it's the cover up. this is -- his second in command was seeing some of these wiretap applications, there will be a lot of coverage of this. jamie: guys, thank you so much. we will monitor this closely. it's going to be an interesting day on the hill. thanks. bill: as we watch this now, they are discussing sprefl what yo discussing what you were debating right here. i want to listen quickly to eric

holder on the hill. bill hill. >> is that the same date that these firearms that you found out were connected to fast and furious were found at the murder seen of brian terry, or did you find out about that before. >> i don't remember when i found out about that particular fact. i would guess it would also be some time in the early part of 2011. >> okay. why was it, do you think that individuals who worked for you, who were in this administration would not have made it known to you or others outside of arizona that firearms that were allowed to be given to drug cartels in mexico by u.s. officials, why did it take so long for you to learn or for others to tell you? was there a cover up going on? or what was the explanation for you in your position not knowing more about the tactics? >> i think the answer is found in your question. no one knew about the tactics at

the time of that initial discovery. it wasn't until the tactics were discovered that people started to understand that we had a problem here. but for those tactics fast and furious was a mid-level regional investigation that from all reports was going on pretty successfully. >> but, again, you didn't find out about those tactics until say, six weeks or two months after the death of brian terry, is that correct? >> some time in february. i think agent terry was killed december 10th or 14th i believe of december. >> when was anyone in the white house first informed about the tactics that were used under operation fast and furious? >> i don't know. >> did you, yourself not inform anyone in the white house about operation fast and furious? >> i'm sure there was contact between staff and the justice department, probably and the appropriate people in the white house about fast and furious. i don't remember, myself, ever sharing that information with -- >> how would anyone in the white

house have learned about it and who would have learned about it under the normal chain of command? >> i'm sorry? >> how would the white house have learned about operation fast and furious if not from you? >> well, through my staff and the interactions that we have with the white house counsel's office. >> when did your staff inch firearm the white house about operation fast and furious? >> i don't know. >> were you ever curious about that? >> my focus was on dealing with the problems associated with fast and furious. >> it seems to me that you would want to know -- want white house official toss know what was going on in order to correct the problem. my time -- >> my focus was on ethics and trying to solve the problem and not awfully concerned of what the knowledge was in the white house. it was my responsibility. >> i under. i still think the white house would have been informed. thank you, mr. holder. bill: he's the head of the judiciary committee. you heard the back and forth trying to figure out and nail down whether or not eric holder was the one that had

conversations at the white house or not or whether it was st-f members. the attorney general clearly stating there that he does not remember if he had conversation -ts oconversations or who it was on his staff who had conversations with fast and furious. there will be headlines and when there are more we'll bring it to you live. it's streaming live on foxnews.com if you want to listen to it now. awaiting an update on the state of the economy from the chairman and the fed, ben bernanke will answer questions at a hearing that will get underway in a moment. the economy is tender and national correspondent steve centanni is watching and listening on that one. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the chairman of the fed is telling congress this morning, or will tell in a few minutes that the u.s. economy will continue to grow at a moderate pace over the coming quarters. he said the depressed housing market is a doctoring on the recovery, and the crisis in europe is a dragon our exports.

there is kevin brady of texas, the joint chairman of a committee convening to hear ben bernanke. he plans to wait and see. he's not proposing a third round of monetary stimulus or pumping money into the economy by telling short term bonds and buying longer term bonds. two other members soon suggested that might be necessary. the chairman's testimony tries to grapple with the reasons for the slow downs in hiring that was evident in last week's dismal unemployment numbers. he says in his opening statement, quote, the apparent slowing in the labor market may have been exaggerated by seasonal adjustment and unusually warm weather in past winter. it may also be possible that larger gains seen last year were associated with some catch up hiring which has largely been completed now. as to the warm winter weather the chairman was suggesting there was unusual hiring during that winter and a slower pace

this spring was in the chairman's words pay back for that early hiring. bill: see if there are any clues on printing more money during that hearing to. jaime what is next. jamie: there are two major khr-f cities send ago strong message to unions in order to save their cities from millions in deaths. san diego's mayor is one of those cities. he'll join us live. bill: the white house is fending off accu tkpwaeugss it's intentionally leaking info for political gain. lindsey graham has some comments on that. he's live as well. jamie: a witness in the trial of two men were accused of beating this man nearly to death, and his friend who tried to save him, wait until you hear what he said next. >> brian, as soon as he was bunched was visibly to me, obviously unconscious, and fell from standing directly backwards

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bill: voters in two of california's largest cities overwhelmingly approving measures to cut retirement benefits for city workers. this its san jose and san diego both struggling with mounting tense allegations. san diego has a huge budget deficit for fiscal 2012. they budgeted 234 million for retiree benefits. going back to 199913 years ago the retirement funds have spiked some 450%. the mayor had he an idea. let's get control of this. the mayor is jerry sanders out of san diego. with me from chicago, illinois. mr. mayor good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: what can this measure guarantee in your budget? >> what it can guarantee is that it will save about between

1.2 billion and 2.1 billion in costs over the next 25 years. so there will be significant savings. bill: the proposal would put new employees for the city -- make sure i get this right, except for police officers -- into a 401k-style plan, these are new employees. do you do anything with the current employees on staff? >> with the current employees the initiative called for a five-year freeze in pensionable pay. they can still get pay raises but it can't be figured in the pensions. when the action ooh wear reese look at new people joining it and what that is going to look like there won't be anybody else joining the system. bill: what do you think when they say you're blaming the unions for your problems. what would you say about that? >> i think it's been a combined problem. politicians in the past promised them unsustainable benefits, and then they stopped making the

correct payments and the union said we don't care if you make the payments, just give us better benefits, and both sides knew that was not sustainable, so what this pens initiative did is put it in the city charter, which is the law for the city that you can't do that any more. in the 401k-style system you have to make the payment every year, you can't push it off on skwraout generations. bill: it seems like such an easy fix. >> not when you're fighting with label and others. we went out with a city initiative, had over a hundred thousand signatures on that to put it on the ballot and i think you saw the results, it passed by 66%. bill: it was almost two to one. they did this in san jose too and i think the margin there was even larger. you're saying today because this measure passed that san diego will save a billion dollars over ten years, is that right. >> that is exactly right. that's simply because we won't

be making that huge payment. and also it starts to ramp up after that. the savings in the first few years are pretty small, but after that they get signature. it gets over to a hundred million a year. bill: they could not do it out of sacramento statewide. have you been contacted by other mayor or people trying to see what you're doing out there and perhaps push for the same thing? >> you know, we think that this will sweep certainly the state of california with both san jose and san diego, two of the largest cities doing it. but obviously this is an issue nationwide, and you can't continue to have defined benefit programs that were designed in the 40s and 50s for a very different generation of workers, and they are not tp*epb funded now and you can't cut the city services or state services to pay the pensions. it doesn't make sense. bill: we'll reach out to san jose and figure out what they are doing as well. jerry sanders, the mayor of san diego in chicago today. jamie: they are competing on the

campaign trail, they are also competing on the money trail. breaking news coming up on just how much money governor mitt romney raised compared to the president. bill: it is one of the roughest house markets in the country at the moment. a 29 electoral votes in florida, how are voters in or around orlando feeling about the presidency at the moment. >> we may lose our home. i think the american dream now is putting food on the table, getting through day-by-day. we are month to month trying to figure out how everything is going to workout. ll on those ga.

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and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. jamie: welcome back, everybody, really dramatic testimony about that savage beating of a baseball fan outside dodger stadium. a friend of san francisco giants

fan bryan stow describing how he threw his body over stow's head just trying to protect him from a brutal attack. >> his head was the first thing that hit the ground. as i was running towards brian, when this -- the same -- the same person that had bunched bryan, kicking him in the head repeatedly, and not just little kicks, these were full, wind up, as hard as you can kicks. jamie: the friend was on the stand at a hearing for the two suspects in the attack. stowe, a 42-year-old father of two suffers permanent brain damage. 911 shows it took paramedics more than eight minutes to get to him. they arrived on bicycles. bill: what a recovery that's been for him. all right. our listening to the voter series continues today in the part of the country that's been absolutely turned upside down. we'll take you down to the

southeast. look at the results of the state of florida, 29 electoral votes on the line in 2012 and barack obama was the winner here four years ago, 3 points over senator john mccain. in the central part of the state we went right here to the county of orange county, where you find orlando. look at the margin of difference in this county alone, 18 points for the president over senator john mccain. what has happened in orlando over the past four, even five years? the economy has been absolutely shattered. some would even argue that it's a suburban waste land in this part of the state, because the housing boom went and then it all chanced on itself. unemployment by the way statewide at 8.7%, which is higher than the national average. we went to the suburbs of orlando to see how they are doing today. >> this family bought their home in 2003, it's now worth about half its value. >> when everything went down it's like we've been renting for the last seven years because we

don't own hardly any of the house. >> they worry about their future and their nine-year-old son tyler. >> are we even going to have anything? are we even going to have a house that we own? are we going to have social security? or are we going to be working until we die basically because we can't retire. >> they say they will vote for change in november and that means mitt romney. orange county is cut in off by interstate 4, also known as the i4 corridor. it includes 14 counties, 40% of florida's registered voters live along the i4 corridor. people here are known to be swing voters, they tend to vote on the economy. >> i'm angry, we're frustrated. >> mary lee walker is one of those voters, an independent whose husband lost his job back in january. they haven't made a mortgage payment in two months. >> we may lose our home. yeah, that's embarrassing. i think the american dream now

is putting food on the table, getting through day-by-day. we are month to month trying to figure out how everything is going to workout. >> today mary lee is leaning toward president obama. four years ago orange county voters went big for barack obama, but in the two national elections prior it was like the rest of america, it was almost dead even a 50-50 split. winning this time will depend on how people feel about the money in their pocket. but there are signs of a come back. ken mcdonald is a home builder, and for his company sales are up since a year ago. >> you were on rock bottom. you were on the floor, but now there is a little bit of a bounce off of that floor, is that accurate? >> yeah, we're feeling a bounce, and we feel each month it gets a little bit better, but we are off the rock bottom now. >> marnie has been a real estate broke eastboun broker for 15

years. she showed us one street in trouble. 12 homes on the street, three are owned by the banks the others short sales and six of empty lots. >> give me the good news here. >> we are getting away from the distressed sales and getting more traditional sales. as i mentioned the vestment market is really good. >> it was really bad, it's got even a little bit better. the unemployment number 4.7%, it was so good your and a half years ago it almost tripped here two years ago and it stayed around that mark too, so this will be a significant issue in la markeyhs time. family as our listening to the voter series continues. you will see that later tonight on special report with bret baier, 6:00 eastern time only on the fox news channel. jamie: that all important campaign cash you can't run without it. new fundraising numbers for the month of may, carl cameron has breaking news for us from

washington. >> reporter: big changes on the campaign trail where where the pocketbooks are concerned. mitt romney and the republican party have out raised president obama and democrats in the preceding month, in last month. this morning the obama campaign announced having raised a combined $60 million with the democratic party in may. that is significantly up from what they raised the month before $43.6 million. it brings his total raised over a half a billion dollars so far in this campaign. fox news can now report that the romney campaign and the republican party, however, have out raised mr. obama in may $76.8 million, raised by the romney campaign and the rnc. the combined cash on hand for the right about $100 million in cash. back in april romney and the gop raised about 40 million, so the may fundraising numbers nearly double what they had done the month before. that's along with besting democrats by $16.8 million with just five months left before the

actual election day, jaime. jamie: carl cameron with the latest numbers. thanks so much. bill: there is new reaction this hour to claims that the white house leaked national security intel to help the president politically. >> somebody in the white house is orchestrating an effort to leak classified information and programs to make the president look good. to think otherwise is just absurd. bill: and there is more. lindsey graham is live in a few moments on that. also -- >> are the standards expressed -- [cellphone ringing ] jamie: don't let that happen here bill, okay? it was a big oops, the ring that silenced the senate floor. one. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one.

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jamie: the obama administration is disputing these claims that it actually leaked intentionally a string of national security secrets to reporters for its own political gain. republican senator john mccain, speaking out pretty harshly about it and demanding an investigation, calling for a prosecutor to examine the white house's role in those leaks. listen: >> the only conceivable motive for such damaging and compromising leaks of classified information is that it makes the president look good. jamie: white house press secretary jay carney, firing back, sthaeug any suggestion that this administration

authorized intentional leaks of classified information for political gain is grossly irresponsible: here now republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina, member of both the senate armed services committee and the senate budget committee, senator, welcome. >> thank you for having me. jamie: we appreciate you being here on this. senator mccain is pretty fired up and this issue has actually crossed the aisle now. there are democrats who want to get the bottom of this. explain exactly what happened. >> well, in about the 30-45 days, there are been three stories with white house sources, senior officials confirming these stories, one has to do about the disruptive plot involving a new underwear bomber technique where they had a double agent inside an al-qaeda cell that was able to basically expose the new technology that would have made it very difficult to stop an underwear bomber

attack. jamie: so that is kind of classified. >> that's big-time classified. you talk about a double agent having ties to saudi arabia and britain, so that's made our relationship with great britain much more tkafbg they don't want to read about any help they're giving us in the "new york times". you have a story about a cyber attack that supposedly took place a year or two ago and now it's coming out five months before the election about how we're sharing technology with israel and how we're going after the iranian nuclear program to a cyber attack that was a year old. jaime and the third one, the special agent, you have the information on that, but you also have the fact that president obama says he must approve every drone strike. >> yes. jamie: those are generally classified items. but they are, the white house would say, feathers in the president's cap for a positive result from some of those. then how show a candidate running for reelection boast about accomplishments?

>> well, i don't remember anybody running for reelection in world war ii talking about how we used double agents. i don't believe it's in our national security interest to disclose information about a cyber attack against iran and sharing that technology with israel. i don't think it's ever good to expose your allies to their programs and their assistance being offered to the united states in the "new york times". i think this is the most devastating events for our national security. dianne feinstein, to her great credit, has said lives have been put at risk. so you can boast about getting bin laden, you can say the drone attacks have been successful and i would say yes you're right, you did a good job with bin laden, drone attacks have been successful, but these three stories paint a picture of a strong national conspiracy for us to the detriment of our national security program and it's done intentionally. jamie: you sound like you feel this is all we've got, if we give up these secrets

with can't protect our national security. that's concern for everyone. what are you going to do about it? >> it will be an investigation, aby partisan investigation about how did these stories get out of the white house. this is a blow by blow description of what went on in the situation room. these are detailed stories and a guy is writing a book about how we target people with drone attacks, what we did in the cyber area against iran, and this whole idea about the pakistani doctor being helpful to us. why does that have to be in the paper? it's fog to be very difficult for anybody to help us in the future. jamie: senator you've given it great context today. thank you very much for commenting on the story, giving us your point of view. >> thank you. bill: they are battling for the republican senate nomination in particulars. but a request for a debate has created big-time drama in the lone star state. we'll tell you what that's all about. >> not without dram why in tinseltown last night, the

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bill: we have drama the size of texas in the race for the senate seat, dewhurst, challenging his opponent to a debate in spanish. cru wr-fplt is a cuban american. ly take that offer? we'll have to talk to cruz about that this week. jamie: ted cruz joins me, former texas solicitor general and primary candidate for the texas senate. welcome.

>> great to be with you. jamie: this race is getting a lot of attention, you are going to be in a runoff july july 31st with mr. dewhurst, a republican for republican runoff for the nominee in your district but he has recently challenged you as the story goes to a spanish debate, to do a debate with him in spanish. what's the background on that issue? >> well, it's a silly season of politics. i don't think we should do a debate in spanish. most texans speak english. if we were in mexico n. cuba, we'd do the debate in spanish. here in texas we should do it in english. martha: is this a comment on your your span stpheurb. >> my spanish is lousy. let's be clear, the debate would be much better in english but there's a reason he's proposing it in spanish, which is my opponent david dewhurst has skipped 35 redates -- debates all over the state of texas, he's been hiding from grassroots voters, so he wants to do a debate in the vast majority -- where

the vast majority of primary voters doesn't understand it, he doesn't want vote attorneys hear about his record and from the beginning, this race should be decided by the people, the voters have a right to hear from the candidates. anyone running for senate should stand in front of the people and not hide from them. martha: this is sort of a little engine that could kind of situation. you've got a lot of support from sarah palin and others in the tea party in this race and he's outspent you, your opponent, by some estimates, about 5-1, and i know there are efforts 20 tase -- efforts to raise money for your side but now you've got a race to worry about and it's a runoff at the end of july. as i said, you need to raise a lot of money and by most estimates you need to figure out a way to make your opponent look bad which is what most opponents try to do and you would like to do that in the form of a debate? >> on election night, i challenged my opponent to five debates, he skipped 35 during the primary itself, and this race is ground zero for the national battle

between the moderate establishment and the tea party tidal wave. all over the country people are fed up with the same tired establishment career politicians. martha, that's why we're going broke. we've got career politicians in both parties who don't believe anything. and who think they're entitled to stay in office. that's why a candidate skips 35 debates, because he doesn't think he owe it is to the people to show up. my opponent here has spent over $10 million in false, nasty attack ads, all aimed at me. i think we should be in front of the voters, i think we should answer real voters' questions. i think that's what the people of texas want is a strong conservative and fighter in the senate who will stand up to obama and will fight to restore the constitution. martha: you've got a lot of enthusiasm out there. it's going to be a tough race by all estimates and it's going to require a lot more money on your side from what it looks like at this point. thank you very much, ted cruz for joining us. it's a race everybody is watching across the country and we'll see how you do.

thank you sir, good to have you. >> they are ific -- terrific, thank you for having me. bill: buenos dias! that's about as far as i go. jamie: good job, though! you know what, bill, for god's sakes, folks, put your phone on silent! bill: slam it! >> the standards expressed -- >> [phone ringing] >> jamie: oh, if only you could hear my ring! don't you hate it when that happens? my goodness bill: while in america, here in "america's newsroom", meet the animals that might be hanging out in your back yard. jamie: wait. i didn't sign up for this, did i? bill: there is a wolf in the house, and that is no joke. jamie: uh-oh! as a culinary manager i make sure our guests have an over the top experience. being hands ons key! i make sure every plate looks just right.

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jaime jail all too often it will happen at a board meeting, i hate when it happens at the movies, it even happens at the new york philharmonic, but this may be a first, on the floor of the senate? really? >> the standards which senator obama laid out or the standards expressed -- >> [phone ringing] >> jail jail -- jamie: when you're trying to make an argument, too! iowa republican chuck grassley explaining why he was voting against a judicial nominee when he heard on the microphone whispering to himself, he was fumbling to silence that ringer. bill: there's an app for that, jamie! try it!

check that out, wow, that is from national geographic about mother nature in our own back yard. casey anderson is our national geographic resident wildlife expert. nice to see you again. >> good to be on. bill: who do we have here? >> ali is a three-year-old gray wolf, an animal featured heavily, opening segment sunday night, one of the coolest segments. this animal will basically show what you it's designed for, it's long legs for endurance, speed and you'll see one of these wolves in the wild hurting caribou by itself. bill: five years old? >> three. bill: she likes you, jamie. >> she is going to give you a kiss on the lips. look at this. would you expect this from the wolf? bill: it looks thin, almost like a skinny german shep ard. >> she said her winter coat so it isn't fluffby but again, designed for speed

and endurance and you'll see her with wolves running. bill: she was kind of shy when you brought her into the studio. >> they're shy by nature, animals, they deserve to be in the wild and untamed america, we're showcasing the wild. jamie: i taste very good. i must have had something for breakfast! >> bill: let's bring in the second one. what's coming up next, blue and gold? >> these are a blue and gold mechah right here. jamie: that might hurt if i stick my hand in there. what do you think? >> there you go. jamie: i'm feeling pretty brave, bill! >> this is the largest member of the parrot family. and you guys -- these guys actually have pretty intense beak strength. they can actually break into a brazil nut. bill: this is not in your back yard. >> these guys live in central america and in one of the mountain episodes we feature a relative, a

parakeet and they actually nest within a volcano, in the crater of a volcano. bill: a lot of what we talk about, this brought nature and people closer together. >> untamed america is showing that in the americas there are plenty of wild rugged places but we need to preserve them, take care of them but there are intense things. you'll see in hd some of the most beautiful places. bill: you're making the argument there are wild places in america even still with the growth. jane jaime such a good lesson for all of us to learn. national geographic does it like nobody else does it, and hd has really helped the cause, right, to show pictures of these places? >> absolutely. jamie: to encourage people to care about them. >> absolutely. unnamed america is a showcase of the most beautiful see quens. jap jaime it was beautiful until this one was going to make its way over. a little lukewarm on the alligator.

bill: and this is an american -- >> this is an american although gating. jaime what makes it american >> bill: well, we got two of them! >> two, bill! american alligator, these guys live -- not much for petting. jamie: i don't think so bill: holy cow. >> a little hip here. jamie: do they get along? >> he's maybe a little stage-shy. jamie: that happens. >> this one is seven years old. seven years old. they can get to be 12 feet long. and they are the king of their domain, they live in the swatches of florida. bill: it's okay. >> jaime if ce could get a shot of the front, the eyes are only looking to the side. how do they see? >> those eyes are designed for when they're laying in the water, lurking for prey, the only thing sticking up is the eyes above the water. bill: how old is the one i was hold something. >> one year old. bill: tiny, small. >> but they grow quick. in the forest episode you'll see the jaguar go face to

face with one of these guys' cousins, in the water. bill: i have a clue on that, now. quickly i want to bring out one more here. look at these guys! they don't even look real! >> marine toweds. jamie: do they his? >> -- hiss? >> that i recall perfectly fine. jamie: oh my goodness, you wouldn't believe what they feel like. >> they puff up to look big! these things are ultimate predators. they will actually eat something as big as a rat! whatever can fit in their mouth, they'll eat. this is from south mek. they do well anywhere. again, they're just a -- they adapt and they're an example of -- >> jamie: still bringing them in. bill: what's this right here? >> it's a little gland. jay jaime they're very well behaved. thank you. bill: prime time this sunday night, right? unnamed america, national geographic, # o'clock eastern time on the tenth of

june, only on the national geographic channel. jamie: don't miss that. also there's talk about whether former president bill clinton who would not appreciate this segue is helping or hurting president obama's reelection effort, clinton making a series of messages off message with the obama campaign. what's behind former president clinton's remarks? [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

>> i want to say congratulations to miley cyrus, she is only 19 years old but she just got engaged in actor liamhems w-rbgtmsworth. i'd love to be at the wedding to hear, do you hannah montana that i can thor brother -- she will